Dear Ellen,

All of these rooms (almost) have some sort of blue walls. The rooms are all clean and fairly neutral, but you still do like your hits of red, coral, pink, what have you (thank goodness!). You are liking the mixture of the clean modern lines and the curvy. Also, remember what I said about shiny metal 'finishing' a room? That one bookcase is full of shiny vases! Not that you have that many shiny vases, but a touch of sparkle goes a long way. You seem to be liking big patterns, but not necessarily big pattern+bright color. (Why is this starting to sound like a decorating fortune cookie?). Your bright colors are reserved to smaller things like pillows (with the exception of those brightly painted wood stumps:) You need some big, expensive, shiny lamps. Or mirrors, or both.

Also, don't forget about scale. Look carefully at mirrors, chandeliers, lamps, even vases, etc. They are the right size for their environment. When the scale feels right, you don't have to be overly fussy or cram in more and more objects. I do this sometimes. I know it's not 'right,' but I don't want to admit it!

A word of encouragement on the paint colors. Sometimes 'close' to what you want is worse than what you really do want, because you feel so bad changing it! Remember when I painted living room kitchen from that tan with the yellowish undertones to gray? I celebrate that decision every day! It's like a big mental and emotional sigh of relief.